Monday, 2 September 2013

“Of the Month” September 2013

Link of the Month: A Mighty Girl
I know I said I wouldn’t post baby stuff on this blog, but this website is just too cool to pass up. It’s a one-stop resource for all media that positively portrays girls (from pre-schoolers to pre-teens) in a strong, independent, intelligent, and otherwise positive light. This is where to go to help girls become active and confident participants in their lives, not just passive princesses waiting for a hero. These girls are their own heroes.

Album of the Month: Prom Queen: Night Sound
“Prom Queen” is one of the musical projects by friend-of-a-friend Celene Ramadan, who is also known as my favorite chiptune musician, Leeni. Prom Queen is pretty far from Leeni. It’s lush, dreamy, 1960s-inspired music. Dark, sultry, dangerous, and sensual (and authentically vintage), this album sounds like the ultimate yard sale vinyl find in a very, very good way. As Celene puts it, “If David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino were to co-direct your prom, this would be the soundtrack.”

Here’s a video of “This Town Ain’t Big Enough”

Exhibit of the Month: Cooper
Now through January 2014, the Washington State History Museum has an exhibit about the notorious Dan “D.B.” Cooper, the only unsolved domestic hijacking case in the history of the United States. The D.B. Cooper case has been romanticized over the years (right now there’s a very funny D.B. Cooper comic book that postulates he was a super-secret agent who fights aliens and monsters and such) and become something of a pop-culture icon. Heck, there was even an important storyline about him on NewsRadio in the 90s! So it’s nice to actually get some grounding and learn about all the actual facts surrounding this mystery man. It’s a fascinating exhibit, even though it does at times veer too far off into modern-day air security (many measures of which were developed in response to Cooper’s actions). It also has a bit of a personal connection: Carrie’s dad worked for Northwest airlines when the hijacking happened (he wasn’t involved in the least, though, since he was stationed in Cleveland at the time). There are also some really awesome artifacts: actual stewardess uniforms, vintage travel posters, airline giveaways and the like. Good stuff.